Roster Changes Shake Up WGLNA

That’s the best way to sum up the eye-popping team rosters getting ready to rumble in WGLNA Season 1, 2015-2016 (June 23).

How else would you describe a SIMP and Hammer Time merger (SIMP adds drynitz, Nitts, Overlord_Prime and PhotoFinish while dropping blueboyzcaptain, HeavyTwenty, Abrasive and fej)? Or how about that eLevate, fresh off their North American championship, dropped zGarmin and Ertai in favor of signing three of the top players on the European server, Schoolbus’ Arclit, Amarlee, and DarkGodZim?

According to eLevate’s new captain, Statik, the team’s failures at back-to-back international competitions spurred the move after the Grand Finals.

"We as a team decided that we may need to make some roster moves that would put us over that hump so that we could win internationally,” explained Statik. “We knew that the skill was there for us, we just had to find the right pieces to add to what we had.

“DarkGodZim approached eLevate about two weeks after the Grand Finals about the desires of Arclit, AmarLee, and himself to potentially come to North America to play. We had some practices with Schoolbus and decided from both parties that there was a definite fit. Arclit, AmarLee, and DarkGodZim will provide us with experience on the international level along with their knowledge and skill set of the 7/54 format. With the skill and leadership that they bring our team, there is no reason we should not have an excellent chance of repeating our success from Season 5 and defend our championship.”

As for Arclit’s expectations, the former European champ has only one thing on his mind: “Win! We were looking for a team that has a good atmosphere, who are comfortable to play with and who set high goals for themselves. eLevate has experience winning in NA and we can bring a new perspective of EU/RU play to become more competitive on the international scene.”

Here's a full breakdown of all the new team rosters as we prepare for what is sure to be a wild season:

With the SIMP and Hammer Time merger, should we refer to them as SIMPLY Hammered? MacG and Lapse remain on the roster to start the season, but look for a few more moves to be made after roster changes are allowed later in the season.

Formerly known as Top Tier, Team Refuse is under new leadership thanks to team captain Cool_Hammer. But will the new leader signal a positive change for a team that always seems to be in contention, but never manages to win the big one?

The Cunninghams get a sponsor, but the change in name could confuse fans, as last year, Noble sponsored The Googleybobbers. In terms of the roster, AMartin is gone, while xsoIdier and AkulaV left Lamp to join one of last season’s most dominant teams.

RUlette changes their name back to #RU, hoping to return the team back to their former glory. Loss of Sov13t hurts, but with GameisRigged, Abrassive, and YoungMoneyCashMoney, #RU should be in the hunt for another championship run.

The former Simple Tankers crew is one of only two teams that has competed in WGLNA since the beginning (SIMP). But the loss of ToFuSmurF and Wallhacks could turn this one-time contender back to pretender status.

Formerly known as eLevate Red, look for Silver League’s second place team to play with the best of them in Gold, as they’ve scrimmed so much against the defending champs, they might have the best shot of taking down their former eLevate teammates.

This is like a who’s who of WGLNA, with former MVP, blueboyzcaptain, teaming with TofuSmurF, HeavyTwenty and Anfield to form a new Dream Team. Will a team of superstars mesh on the battlefield? Only time will tell, but they could be early favorites to win it all.

Former Full Potato/Fear players have reformed under a new name (salute!), but with the same all-out intensity. Fostakid takes the reigns as the new captain, and we’re looking forward to the press conference to introduce the new lineup.

WGLNA Season 1 2015-2016 kicks off Tuesday, June 23. In the meantime, check out Battleviewer.com for a sneak peek at the innovative new way to watch the best Tanks action from across the world.